HS Rugby Roundup, The East

05.06.2026HS Boys

Greenwich got a nice win over BC High.

Author: Alex Goff

Here's a look at what's been happening around the eastern part of the USA in Boys HS Rugby.

Massachusetts IAA

Xaverian Brothers, St. John’s, Belmont HS, and BC High are leading the way in Massachusetts, and tonight, May 6, BC High takes on St. John’s.

Belmont beat Hanover 35-12 this past Friday while St. John’s won a key match over Milton High School, 34-29, on the same night.

Pennsylvania

Two teams in D1 got a week off. Gregory the Great and Doylestown earned byes to the semis, while St. Joe’s Prep and La Salle won via shutout to set up Joe’s vs GGA and La Salle vs Doylestown this weekend.

The D2 teams had their first round of matches. Montgomery County barely edged Dowingtown 24-19 in the first round, while Berks, Elizabethtown, and North Pitt all won fairly comfortably to set up the semis on Sunday: #1 seed Montgomery County vs #4 Berks, and #2 Elizabethtown vs #3 North Pitt.

Connecticut

Trumbull won bit over Staples and Greenwich, which has been enjoying a strong season, beat the Fairfield Pegasi. Head Coach Jamie Everett is still ruing an early match with Xavier, which they lost 33-26.

The Cardinals, said Everett, were a little undercooked then. They logged a strong win over Fairfield Prep and a good on-league victory over BC High. They now face Trumbull in a clash of teams unbeaten in league play.

“We are building something together as a unit,” said Everett.

New York

Things are really just getting going in Upstate New York, and Fairport won a massive result over the weekend, beating the always-difficult McQuaid Jesuit 74-28 to move to 2-0. Canisius HS opened their account with a 60-14 win over Corning.

Downstate, Rye has been very strong and won over Chaminade. We have a HUGE match coming up on Wednesday against Fordham Prep, for seeding in the State's. Feel free to use it, if you'd like. Let me know if you have any questions.

Strong defense led by Cayden Wing, Ryan Prouix, and Keiran Moran and a solid set piece thanks to the front row of Prouix, Yusei Koike, and Ben Ramos set the tone for Rye.

Chaminade took an early lead but after that tries from Harry Hillis and Max Cabrera put Rye ahead at halftime. No. 8 Hunter Gilles and Cabrera again rounded it out.

Maryland

Loyola Blakefield leads the MIAA league 3-0 after their 23-19 defeat of Archbishop Spalding.

Virginia

The Richmond Griffins pulled off a bit of a surprise with a 33-32 defeat of West End in the Virginia semifinals. West End scored more tries, five to four, but with some smart tactical decisions—taking points on penalties, for example—the Griffins pulled it off. Richmond was led by strong performances from Mac Noland and Raffael Pamplona.

Fort Hunt overcame some injuries and player unavailabilities to beat Vienna 56-10 to win their semifinal. The final will be played as a curtain-raiser to the Old Glory DC match vs Seattle on May 10. While often teams end up playing on narrow fields—really whatever field they can have available—this will be a full-width, professional pitch, and that could change the game quite a bit.

Fort Hunt beat Richmond 40-21 during league play on March 21.

North Carolina

With a win over Clayton the Charlotte Tigers will move to the NC final against Raleigh.

Florida

Key Biscayne pulled off a really strong performance in beating Boca 67-22 in the Florida semis. The Rats unleashed their combination of speed, skill, and rugby understanding, scoring early on a chip ahead, and then on a quick lineout. Their offloads out of contact, helped negate Boca's size advantage.

Okapi galloped past Jacksonville 49-12 to make this weekend's final.

Tennessee

Raptor Rugby won their third-straight state final.

Details here>>

Kentucky

This is a fledgling league, and it has done well as the HS rugby advocates have swum steadily upstream to promote the game in the state.
They played a full season, and while the semifinals were lopsided, the season has happened.
Lexington will play Ryle for 3rd. St. Andrew’s will face Franklin in the final. These two met two weeks ago with St. Andrew’s winning 31-15.

Crossovers

Meanwhile, Georgetown Prep hosted St. Augustine out of New Jersey, and just got by with a 22-19 win.

“They have some very good, hard runners and are a very good tackling team,” said Georgetown Head Coach Tom McHale.

St. Augustine, led by the powerful running of No. 8 Danny Francis, had a chance to tie or win the game as they had the ball and a penalty in scoring position, but Georgetown held them out. This was the Hermits’ first loss after three convincing wins in New Jersey league play. However, it might have been their best showing.

Gonzaga logged a well-taken win over Xavier to secure what should be the #3 seed in the Single-School bracket of the Boys HS Rugby National Championships. It’s been a pretty challenging run for Gonzaga with games against ranked school or club teams such as Gregory the Great, Fort Hunt (twice), Loyola Blakefield, Charlotte Cardinals, St. Ignatius, St. Edward, and Xavier. They have been 5-3 in those games.

Add to that their three touring matches in New Zealand and you've got a heavy schedule.

Next up for Gonzaga, Georgetown Prep. Next up for Xavier, Chaminade.